Even in other Siberian cities, summer has been record-breaking. In Chersky, 113 miles northeast of Verkhoyansk, it was 30 degrees last week. Admittedly, large temperature variations are normal in Siberia and in winter temperatures of minus 50 degrees are nothing unusual. But, now the heat has been so extreme that the permafrost, the constantly frozen ground in Siberia, has begun to melt.
According to Freja Vamborg, winter and spring have also been unusually warm in Siberia, also considering that the world as a whole is getting warmer.
- Siberia stands out as a region that exhibits a warmer trend with higher temperature variations, she says.
Forest fires and large insect heatersRising temperatures are a trend throughout the Arctic, not just in Siberia. The reason is spelled climate change with, among other things, forest fires and large insect heat as a result.
In Siberia, the climate is further exacerbated by the melting permafrost, which when it melts emits methane gas, which further impedes climate change. This week, a large oil tank in Norilsk collapsed, 300 miles northeast of Moscow and 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil leaked into a nearby river, which is largely said to have been a direct effect of the thawing permafrost.
The heatwave in Siberia is something that worries climate scientists. Due to the high temperatures, 2020 is about to become the hottest year ever in the world, despite reduced carbon dioxide emissions as a result of the corona pandemic. in Verkhoyansk, a city in northern Siberia, was measured at 38 degrees on Saturday. In that case, it is the hottest temperature ever measured in the Arctic, according to the Washington Post.
Putin: Very seriousEven in Russia as a whole, 2020 has been record-breaking, as much as 5.3 degrees above the average temperature during 1951-1980, according to the Berkley Earth Project. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also expressed concern over the country's rising temperatures and melting permafrost
- Some of our cities were built north of the Arctic Circle, on the permafrost. If it starts to thaw, you can imagine what the consequences would be. It is very serious.
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Millions of people living in parts of the Arctic, Siberia and Alaska are living with concerns about how climate change will affect their way of life. "I think the reindeer husbandry I grew up with will not be there when my children grow up," says Marja Skum, Gran's Sami Village. Photo: SVT